Embrace Tony Jones

As many of you know, there is talk of schism in the United Methodist Church over the issue of homosexuality. I do not support schism. Of course, this has gotten me to thinking about original schisms. Anyway, Tony Jones, emergent pontiff, has called for schism over the ordination of women:

The time has come for a schism regarding the issue of women in the church. Those of us who know that women should be accorded full participation in every aspect of church life need to visibly and forcefully separate ourselves from those who do not. Their subjugation of women is anti-Christian, and it should be tolerated no longer.

In speaking with Bishop N.T. Wright this past weekend in a private reception (I’m going to get a lot of traction out of this), I asked him about the recent news regarding the Church of England and women bishops. His first answer was simple. He supported it. His second answer is something complex. He knows parish priests and others who will object to it. The issue for him, however, does not involve schism, but unity and how to achieve unity. Why? Because those same priests are among the poor and oppressed.

This is a theological answer by Wright. Jones? I really don’t know. What Jones is calling for is an isolationist approach to theology. If they do not agree with me, then they are banned. How is this beneficial? Yes, the theological issue of women ordination is important, but to destroy the ecumenical relationships many have worked to sustain and build upon over the past few centuries? Not worth it.

Instead, we organize internally. We embrace those who deny to women what men have. We embrace those, like Jesus did, those who we see as in error. We don’t ban or shun them. God will win. Love will win. Schism is neither of these.

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Joel L. Watts holds a Masters of Arts from United Theological Seminary with a focus in literary and rhetorical criticism of the New Testament. He is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of the Free State, analyzing Paul’s model of atonement in Galatians. He is the author of Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark: Introduction and Commentary (Wipf and Stock, 2013), a co-editor and contributor to From Fear to Faith: Stories of Hitting Spiritual Walls (Energion, 2013), and Praying in God's Theater, Meditations on the Book of Revelation (Wipf and Stock, 2014).